Into Tech

The Associated Press “conversation” with bloggers keeps getting more bizarre. Yesterday, it met with the guy that Rogers Cadenhead from the Drudge Retort asked to represent him in dealing with the AP. This was the guy that the AP falsely suggested was going to help them set up “guidelines” for bloggers. That was never true. He was merely there to represent Cadenhead’s side of the story. And the result? A statement from the AP saying that the matter is now closed. Seriously. No details. No “conversation.” Just wiping its hands of the whole thing:

In response to questions about the use of Associated Press content on the Drudge Retort web site, the AP was able to provide additional information to the operator of the site, Rogers Cadenhead, on Thursday. That information was aimed at enabling Mr. Cadenhead to bring the contributed content on his site into conformance with the policy he earlier set for his contributors. Both parties consider the matter closed.

In addition, the AP has had a constructive exchange of views this week with a number of interested parties in the blogging community about the relationship between news providers and bloggers and that dialogue will continue. The resolution of this matter illustrates that the interests of bloggers can be served while still respecting the intellectual property rights of news providers.

Let’s unpack this a bit. First off, and most importantly, I’m quite happy that the AP and Cadenhead have worked out their differences. It’s never any fun to be on the receiving end of a legal threat — and the most important thing of all was making sure that the situation was settled. However, the rest of the AP’s statement is troublesome.

First, for an organization claiming that it wants to be a part of the conversation (and some have noted that “conversations” rarely begin with a legal threat), never actually coming out and talking in public seems quite problematic. So far, the public communication from the AP has been (1) identical cut-and-pasted comments on a number of blogs, (2) a couple of quotes given to reporters, (3) possibly some private discussions with unnamed bloggers, and (4) a private meeting with a representative for the Drudge Retort. There wasn’t a single attempt to have a public discussion. There’s no explanation of the resulting “agreement” or how it might impact other bloggers who quote the AP. There isn’t even a single indication from the AP that it recognizes why so many people are upset.

That’s not a resolution. That’s denial.

Update: Rogers Cadenhead has posted his thoughts on the discussion with the Associated Press, and while he does seem relieved that his involvement is now cleared, he doesn’t seem optimistic about the future:

If AP’s guidelines end up like the ones they shared with me, we’re headed for a Napster-style battle on the issue of fair use.

In other words, so much for the “conversation” that the AP has supposedly been having. It still won’t acknowledge what fair use clearly allows and it still won’t admit that it was wrong — or openly discuss its position in public.

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We all love flashy wristwatches, if only so we can look, laugh and wonder at how stupid you’d look if you actually went out and bought on.

The Deux Ex Machine watch fits nicely into this category but despite it’s chunky build and rather space-age design manages to pack in quite a few powerful features.

Remember the ridiculous Julie Amero case in Connecticut? That was the one where a substitute teacher was facing jail time because the computer she used in a classroom had malware that displayed pornographic images. The local prosecutors wanted to send her to jail, despite the fact that it was the malware that put up the porn. It looks like a similar situation (luckily, without the jailtime) is playing itself out in Massachusetts. There, a “computer illiterate” state employee was fired for child porn found on his computer. After hiring a computer forensics expert, who pointed out that the state’s IT department hadn’t configured the machines securely and that it was chock full of malware, the guy has been cleared of child porn charges — but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s been disgraced and out of work for over a year.

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If you’re a fan of rollercoasters you’re probably also one of these people who love pushing themselves to find the next big ride.

Well you’ll have to go to America for that unfortunately, since they have all the best ones there anyway, but the new Fahrenheit ride at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania might be too much for even the most hardened of stomachs.

Featuring a 97 degree drop - that’s 7 degrees past vertical - you’ll pull 4G’s as you spin around the bottom of the dip, which is more than astronauts experience during a space shuttle launch.

Next time you’re in London at 3am and wake to find yourself mysteriously shoeless, just point your feet towards Carnaby St., to what is being billed as the UK’s first sports trainer vending machine.
Those wacky Japanese will sell pretty much anything in a vending machine and it’s high time we got some of that 24-hour [...]

The addition of Wi-Fi to digital cameras is certainly one of the most welcome additions to newer devices, with Nikon unveiling its latest wireless offerings.
The company has introduced the new S52 (non Wi-Fi) and S52c (Wi-Fi) digital snappers, both with 9MP resolutions and the space-saving, vertical NIKKOR lens with 3x optical zoom and [...]

The addition of Wi-Fi to digital cameras is certainly one of the most welcome additions to newer devices, with Nikon unveiling its latest wireless offerings.
The company has introduced the new S52 (non Wi-Fi) and S52c (Wi-Fi) digital snappers, both with 9MP resolutions and the space-saving, vertical NIKKOR lens with 3x optical zoom and [...]

Whether it’s just good business or Microsoft bowing to customer pressure, the software giant has just announced that it is extending the life of Windows XP Home on what it calls ‘the new class of mobile personal computers called ultra-low-cost PCs, or ULCPCs’
The company confirmed that the current deadline of June 30, 2008 [...]

LaCie was smart to get Neil Poulton designing its hard drives because they look damn fine - as always.
This is another one looking like the slab from in the 2001: A Space Odyssey but adds an extra dose of functionality by adding very useful Firewire 400 and eSATA interfaces alongside the usual USB 2.0 [...]

What times we live in. There was time when your kid’s play toys included firehouses, hospitals and police stations but that’s just so 1950s now, which is why Playmobil have released the Security Check Point.
I’m betting that’s one side effect of the War on Terror the experts didn’t predict. The blurb on Amazon [...]